Rebirth after the college entrance examination

Chapter 257 Comprehensive upgrade
As Xia An looked at the headquarters buildings of various large companies along the Third Ring Road, the Second Ring Road, and Chang'an Avenue, he couldn't quite put his finger on what he was thinking.

He seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps asking Huang Yingying, "It's really interesting to have built such a big business?"

Huang Yingying said, "The air quality here is bad; we've had two sandstorms recently."

Xia An was taken aback, then looked at her with a smile: "So where do you think is the best place to live?"

Huang Yingying thought for a moment and said, "A cabin by the sea, by a lake, or by a forest would be fine. That's the kind of place I lived in when I was in the Philippines."

"Are you comfortable?"

Huang Yingying didn't answer immediately. She glanced at Xia An and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Most poor people live in places like that. There are mosquitoes, no toilets, and they can't eat or sleep well. But rich people can decorate their homes nicely, where the air is fresh, it's not noisy, and they live comfortably."

……

Tang Wan didn't wake up until noon and called him to ask what he was doing.

Xia An said that she and Huang Yingying were going hungry together.

Tang Wan chuckled.

"Then wait for me, okay? I'll come find you, how about we have barbecue?"

Forty minutes later, at a large Korean BBQ restaurant in Haidian.

Xia An had chosen a private room by the window in advance. Huang Yingying insisted on not eating with them. After Tang Wan and Zhou Zhou arrived, she went out to meet up with the group members and they took turns eating ramen.

The young waiter who took their order stared at Xia An and Tang Wan for a long time.
The young waitress who led the two upstairs stared at Xia An and Tang Wan for a long time, wanting to say something but not daring to, her face turning red.

Tang Wan ordered all the dishes without even looking at the menu, and said with a smile that she and Zhou Zhou had been eating here for the past two days.

In 2007, Korean and Japanese culture was at its peak in China. Korean barbecue, army stew, ginseng chicken soup, and various pickles were all the rage and very popular among girls, who called it "healthy".

In fact, that country has the highest incidence of colorectal cancer in the world.

Eat less pickled food.

The background music playing in the restaurant was "Girls' Generation," a song by Girls' Generation that became a sensation across Asia shortly after their debut.

Xia An felt nothing, only remembering that there was a girl named Lin Yoona who was pretty.

The waitress walked away, then came back when the food was served, saying she would grill the meat for them. Although this service was offered, Xia An knew perfectly well that she was there to hear gossip, and it wouldn't have mattered if she hadn't been there...

He kindly told the little girl, "No need, we can do it ourselves."

Zhou Zhou nodded in agreement: "Yes, I can bake it. I've learned how in the last few days."

Tang Wan said to Xia An with a half-smile, "Afraid of making headlines tomorrow?"

Xia An didn't respond. He tore open a wet wipe, wiped his face, and looked up to ask Tang Wan:
How was your time in Yanjing?

Tang Wan picked up a piece of kimchi and muttered, "What can you do? We've been here so many times. You just missed the sandstorm the day before yesterday, which was terrifying. The whole world was yellow."

Xia An said, "It will be better in a few years."

Tang Wan nodded and said, "I've heard about it. The government is going to take strong measures to control..."

The knocking interrupted Tang Wan's words.

The waiter came in carrying two jugs, one of rice wine and the other of freshly squeezed juice, saying they were a gift from the boss, and then left.

Xia An poured juice for the two girls, but Tang Wan and Zhou Zhou refused, saying they wanted to drink rice wine, mango flavored, sweet and icy, and recommended that he try it too.

Xia An rolled her eyes at Zhou Zhou. So, now that I'm here, you're not even driving anymore?
Zhou Zhou just grinned at him with a silly, goofy smile.

Speechless. This girl is really clueless.

"Did Zhang Chunmin tell you about the financial budget?" Xia An asked.

Tang Wan stuffed a perilla leaf wrapped around pork belly into her mouth, her cheeks bulging, and mumbled, "Besides Beijing, there are Tianjin, Shanghai, Dongshan, and Qingdao as co-hosting cities, plus the equestrian competition in Hong Kong." Xia An was taken aback: "You mean, we can take this opportunity to open a shop directly in Hong Kong?"

Tang Wan tilted her head and blinked: "Didn't I tell you yesterday?"

Xia An shook her head.

Tang Wan chuckled: "That's because I forgot. Yes, that's what the leader told me: to have the special economic zone cooperate in approving a small site for me, not a large one."

Xia An was overjoyed: "That's enough. It's enough to take this opportunity to get the brand in."

Tang Wan sighed: "Uncle Zhang called me late last night and said that the finance department had done a rough calculation. Apart from the store we already have at Dongshan Olympic Sports Center, we need to set up temporary structures in other places. Including manpower and logistics, the total expenditure will not be less than 15 billion yuan."

She pouted and asked Xia An, "Will we be able to recoup all this money spent?"

Xia An shook her head: "Don't even think about it, it's impossible. The competition only lasts for a month, and many venues will definitely close afterward, so it's like a one-time store."

"Huh???" Tang Wan was startled, her baby sausage refusing to eat anymore. "Won't we lose everything then!"

Xia An took her water glass and poured herself a glass of juice. "We can't think of it that way. In the long run, this investment is of extraordinary significance. Even if an orchard or a pie shop is designated as an Olympic sponsor, it will gain global exposure, which is incomparable to other advertising channels."

Tang Wan rolled her big eyes in thought, then slowly nodded.

Finally, she looked at Xia An and said, "Then you decide."

Zhou Zhou was eating voraciously, her mouth stuffed full.

Xia An reached out and pinched Tang Wan's cheek, smiling as she said, "This time, let's lift up our construction company together. Next year, I want to get a bigger piece of land."

"Building a residential complex?"

Xia An shook her head: "Let's build our new house. Backed by mountains and facing the sea, with forests and cabins. Do you like it?"

Tang Wan couldn't suppress her smile and nodded vigorously; that was also the home of her dreams.

Xia An took a big gulp of water and asked, "Where do you want to settle down?"

Tang Wan thought about it seriously for a moment, then smiled and said, resting her chin on her hand, "Wherever you are."

"Could you reserve a little cabin for me too?" Zhou Zhou pleaded pitifully, his mouth full of sauce.

……

Xia An lacks manpower, but the Sugar Persimmon Group has a large talent pool.

He had Tang Wan temporarily bring in a planning team to create an upgraded store design for the Olympic Village No. 1 store, taking into account the on-site environment.

His approach is to modernize, intelligentize, and rejuvenate.

Modernization means, for example, upgrading the store's decoration style to a new era, in line with the overall style of the Olympic Village.

Intelligent features include, for example, developing a QR code scanner with unlimited Visa card swiping functionality for unmanned vending. Of course, this function can be used here for demonstration purposes, but it will take several years for it to become widespread.

To appeal to younger consumers, supermarkets could make large-scale changes to their product selections. Since the official website has set up a domestic specialty products display area, could we collect and sell specialty products from around the world?
It's not difficult to do this under the guise of Olympic procurement.

Xia An's idea was to take this opportunity to fully upgrade the candy into a high-end brand supermarket for future generations.

Rooting oneself in the physical world while developing internet projects is the only business logic that can lead to significant growth. And for the physical world, is there a better option than the fast-moving consumer goods and supermarket industry, which has huge cash flow and can develop membership systems, improve logistics, and lay the foundation for a sales network?
The first meeting lasted five hours, with Xia An giving a non-stop presentation that took up half of the time.

Everyone, including Tang Wan, was stunned by his extraordinary thinking, which was both imaginative and highly likely to be realized.

Is this what a born entrepreneur is like?

While others were shocked, Tang Wan's eyes were filled with pride and deep affection when she looked at Xia An.

(End of this chapter)